1. Field
The present invention relates generally to voltage regulation. More specifically, the present invention relates to embodiments for improving performance of a switching power converter.
2. Background
An electronic device, such as a mobile telephone, may include a power converter (i.e., a voltage regulator) that receives an input voltage from a power supply and generates an output voltage for a load. An integrated circuit may include a power converter for providing a stable voltage reference for on-chip components such as a digital component, an analog component, and/or a radio-frequency (RF) component.
A power converter may comprise a switching power converter, which rapidly switches a power transistor between saturation (i.e., completely on) and cutoff (i.e., completely off) with a variable duty cycle. A resulting rectangular waveform is low pass filtered in order to produce a nearly constant output voltage proportional to the average value of the duty cycle. One advantage of a switching power converter compared to a linear power converter is greater efficiency because the switching transistor dissipates little power as heat in either a saturated state or a cutoff state.
As understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art, a switching power converter may include a feedback to monitor and remove variations in the output voltage. However, as described more fully below, a feedback may include various components that may induce latency, delay, and/or attenuation.
A need exists for an enhanced switching power converter. More specifically, a need exists for embodiments related to a switching power converter configured for fast transient response while providing error correction functionality.